Climate Change: A peer-reviewed study by a respected Canadian physicist blames the interplay of cosmic rays and chlorofluorocarbons for 20th-century warming. The CFCs are now gone, and so is warming  perhaps for the next 50 years.

Much of the nation got a white Christmas this year, some in unprecedented quantities. A record-breaking storm deposited 12 to 30 inches of snow in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Many places set records for the most snow in a single December day as more than 50% of the U.S. was covered by the white stuff.

Scientists (and here we use the word loosely) at Britain's Climate Research Unit may have tried to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, but it's hard to hide two feet of snow. Their motto seems to be the immortal words of Groucho Marx: "Who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?"

Interesting notion, but no one, including the good professor knows for sure if this is right. What it does demonstrate is that far from there being a concensus, science hasn’t got the foggiest notion of the mechanisms of climate change and the role of mankind in it.

Whatever the “climate change” brings, it will still require a massive amount of funds to be extracted from the marketplace by either taxation or heavily enforced mandates that shall be totally ineffective in altering the course of the climate’s passing from one phase to another.

Money much better used to design and build adaptations to the new set of conditions, not to somehow reverse the changing circumstances.

Next the polar bears will die of hypothermia.

7
posted on 12/24/2009 3:52:01 PM PST
by alloysteel
(....the Kennedys can be regarded as dysfunctional. Even in death.)

A peer-reviewed study by a respected Canadian physicist blames the interplay of cosmic rays and chlorofluorocarbons for 20th-century warming. The CFCs are now gone, and so is warming -- perhaps for the next 50 years.

Now that sounds like science that might actually be believable. CFC's form free radicals in the upper atmosphere that act as chemical catalysts, meaning that one molecule of CFC could catalyze thousands of reactions.

And, unlike CO2, CFCs are completely man-made and nothing that the earth has ever handled before.

The interstates in Oklahoma are shut down due to a blizzard. We have about 11 inches of snow and 50 mph winds. We don’t usually have extreme winter weather in central Oklahoma. You can follow the excitement on www.kfor.com, which is streaming live. You just have to hope most people had sense enough to avoid going out today if they had a choice.

I am in the Texas Hill Country for Christmas. Saw some of that Global Warming/Climate Change/Watzit Called today. I-35 north of Denton is a mess, Oklahoma City is almost shut down.

I'm just south of Denton. Tried to run to the store a couple hours ago, but the roads are already to bad with heavy snow turning to ice. Should clear up tomorrow, but white Christmases used to be extremely rare.

BTW, it's important for critics to get it right. The story is wrong to attach the "hide the decline" comment from the leaked emails to the cooling in recent years. The email in question was from '98 or '99, I think. At that point there had been warming in recent years. The "hide the decline" comment referred not measured temperatures, but rather to the fact that the "proxies" (especially tree ring measuremenets) warmists had used for pre-measured temperatures were then showing declining temperatures at a point when global temperatures were actually going up. IOW they were trying to hide the fact that their proxies did not accurately reflect global temperatures by hiding the decline in the proxy data.

32
posted on 12/24/2009 4:39:14 PM PST
by Stultis
(Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia; Democrats always opposed waterboarding as torture)

Now that sounds like science that might actually be believable.
____________________________________________________________

Sorry no link, but a friend tells me that NASA data show global warming and cooling on Mars and Venus at the same time as Earth’s; that is to say, change consistent with Earth’s on planets with no CFC emissions at all. The sunspot cycle has the most influence on planetary warming and cooling.

Yes, science has finally proved that the Sun warms the Earth. BTW, we are under a severe storm watch, and no Christmas Eve services in town because of it (Christmas Canceled Due To Global Warming). Happy Kwanzaa!

Y2K was definitely a big issue.
Acid rain (more correctly acid precipitation) also is an issue of concern. However, the media love drama, and the enviros take advantage of that, so something like acid precipitation becomes high drama.
If you want an interesting and impartial discussion of acid precipitation (and other causes of building deterioration) I suggest you read this-http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/acidrain/index.html

The world has had several major ice ages followed by melting of those ice ages as done by global warming...

Seems we have a natural cycle going on here... especially since all those ice ages and following warming periods came about before civilization existed...

But these obvious truths are totally ignored...

The most likely cause of any global cooling or warming period is planetary and solar movements - in conjunction with each other...

The earth’s orbit around the Sun is not perfect - there can be slight orbital perturbations (irregularities) which can change the amount of sunlight directed to and/or absorbed by the Earth. Orbital perturbations can and do occur in cycles - periodic and non periodic.

Likewise - the angle of the Earth’s axis is not perfect and can change - ever so slightly - a fraction of a fraction of a degree. A slight alteration in the angle of the Earth’s axis could easily produce changes in the amount of sunlight absorbed or not absorbed by the Earth in a given time frame...

Also the diameter of the Sun can change by internal expansion / contractions cycles — then there are the well known Sun spot cycles - some quite predictable...

Periods of global cooling, global warming and global nothing could easily be explained by any of the above factors...

I believe global cooling and warming cycles could well be a chance confluence of two or three of the above mentioned phenomena... throw in some human activity and you have what we know as climate change - for better or worse...

Bottom line - humans have little to no significant contribution to any sort of climatic change in temperature or weather patterns...

On a much smaller scale urban centers do have an effect on localized weather patterns.

The claims of global warming - climate change are just a global excuse for political movements not achievable by other means...

In the U.S.A. this is also exemplified by a manufactured ‘health care crisis’ ... there is no health care crisis - but it does make a good excuse (fabricated as it is) for a political movement ...

Footnote — but of course none of the global events over hundreds and thousands of years similar to the one described below have had any climatic effect (according to LEFTIST around the world) ... /SARC off ...

RE: the 2004 earthquake and tsunami near Indonesia, Thailand and the Indian Ocean area ... The gigantic quake rattled the Earth’s orbit, changed the map of Asia:

An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map, US geophysicists said.

The 9.0-magnitude temblor that struck 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Sumatra island Sunday may have moved small islands as much as 20 meters (66 feet), according to one expert.

“That earthquake has changed the map,” US Geological Survey expert Ken Hudnut told AFP. “Based on seismic modeling, some of the smaller islands off the southwest coast of Sumatra may have moved to the southwest by about 20 meters. That is a lot of slip.”

The northwestern tip of the Indonesian territory of Sumatra may also have shifted to the southwest by around 36 meters (120 feet), Hudnut said.

In addition, the energy released as the two sides of the undersea fault slipped against each other made the Earth wobble on its axis, Hudnut said.

“We can detect very slight motions of the Earth and I would expect that the Earth wobbled in its orbit when the earthquake occurred due the massive amount of energy exerted and the sudden shift in mass,” Hudnut said.

Another USGS research geophysicist agreed that the Earth would have got a “little jog,” and that the islands off Sumatra would have been moved by the quake.

However, Stuart Sipkin, of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden Colorado, said it was more likely that the islands off Sumatra had risen higher out of the sea than they had moved laterally. “In in this case, the Indian plate dived below the Burma plate, causing
uplift, so most of the motion to the islands would have been vertical, not horizontal.”

The Sumatran earthquake will not alter the Earth’s tilt ), but will probably alter the Earth’s wobble on that axis. The Earth’s north pole gradually spirals around, anti-clockwise, on the Earth’s surface (in a diameter of about 2-12 metres); generally the tighter, the
faster the rotation.

It's always been "climate change" as the weather has been warmer and it has been colder -- as it changes all the time... LOL... Climate change is a good explanation for what's going on... the climate is changing all the time... :-)

1868A severe freeze occurred at Jacksonville, FL when the temperature dropped to 20.

1872Extreme cold gripped the Upper Midwest. Downtown Chicago, IL reported an all-time record low of -23°, which stood until 12/24/1983 and Minneapolis, MN plunged to -38°. The afternoon high at Minneapolis struggled to make it to -17°.

1879It was a frigid Christmas Eve at Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada as the temperature fell to -54°.

1924At Fairfield, MT, it was 63° at noon; by midnight the temperature had plunged an incredible 84 degrees to -21°.

1927A Christmas Eve Blizzard buried Findon, West Sussex, United Kingdom driven by gale force winds. The deep and drifting snow cut off the town. 100 men were employed to remove the great snowfall from roads.

1962A band of precipitation over northern Scotland turned to snow, giving Glasgow, Scotland its first white Christmas in 24 years.

1963The temperature fell to -13° at Memphis, TN, setting the all-time record low temperature for the city. This came only two days after Memphis had received its third heaviest snowfall on record with 14.3 inches.

1972Queensland in Australia recorded one of its hottest days on record when the high temperature at Birdsville reached 118.4°.

1982The "Blizzard of '82" blasted eastern Colorado with 18 to 34 inches of snow. Akron was buried under 28 inches of snow. Denver recorded 23.6 inches of snow in 24 hours to set a new all-time 24 hour snowfall record. Winds gusting to 60 mph whipped the snow into 4 to 8 foot drifts. All highways leading out of Denver were closed and Stapleton International Airport was closed for 33 consecutive hours as visibilities fell to a quarter of a mile or less for 17 consecutive hours. Laramie, WY picked up 18.2 inches of snow.

During an unseasonal period of severe weather, thunderstorms over Oregon County, Missouri produced an F4 tornado. The tornado kept up F4 intensity for 43 miles before dropping to F2 intensity and continuing its progress for an additional 33 miles. During its 35 minute life span the twister killed one person, injured 8 others and did over $10 million dollars in damage.

An F2 tornado touched down in Christian County, Missouri and cut a 300 yard wide 16 mile long path of damage. One person was injured and $5 million dollars of damage was reported.

1983It was the coldest Christmas Eve on modern record in the United States. Arctic air covered almost 90 percent of the country with temperatures well below freezing and, in many areas of the north, well below zero. On Christmas day 125 record lows were set in 24 different states.. Chicago, IL recorded its' coldest temperature ever with a reading of -25°. Miles City, MT established a new U.S. record high barometric pressure of 31.42 inHg or 1063.9 millibars. Sioux Falls, SD led the nation with record cold as the city stayed below zero for 8 consecutive days. Oklahoma City, OK set their highest barometric pressure reading with 31.14 inHg.

Miles City, MT set their all-time record low and coldest high temperature with -38° and -25° respectively. Sheridan, WY also recorded their all-time coldest temperature of -37°.

If the brutal dangerous cold wasnt enough, 1983 the Northern Plains was in the grip of a ferocious ground blizzard. Over the stretch beginning on the 18th through the 25th temperatures were rarely above zero across the area and strong winds made conditions especially dangerous. The worst conditions occurred from the 23rd through the 25th as light snow and loose surface snow combined with strong northwesterly winds to produce whiteout conditions for extended periods of time.

The ground blizzard paralyzed most areas, completely blocking most roads with drifts 4 to 5 feet high. One drift in southwest Minnesota climbed to 15 feet deep and took five hours to clear with a large snowplow. With sub-zero temperatures and winds gusting up to 60 mph, at times, wind chills were from -60° to -100°. The intense and long- lived cold spell burst gas lines, caused propane gas to solidify, and froze water pipes and tanks.

The last of five consecutive days that the temperature remained below zero occurred on this day for Chadron, Alliance and Scottsbluff, NE. Cheyenne, WY warmed above zero in the late evening on this day due to Chinook winds, and ended their longest recorded streak of below zero temperatures at 120 hours.

1986A severe ice storm hit the Ottawa Valley in Ontario and southwestern Quebec Canada on Christmas Eve, forcing many residents to barbecue their holiday turkey as power was lost for 25% of the residents. 1.18 inches of freezing rain accumulated in about 14 hours.

1987A 4-day siege of heavy rain began in the south central U.S. Flooding claimed 4 lives and caused millions of dollars property damage. Western Tennessee was drenched with up to 14 inches of rain in two days. Total rainfall exceeded 12 inches around Memphis TN, and the heavy rain and subsequent flooding added insult to injury to victims of the West Memphis tornado on the 14th of the month. Little Rock, AR experienced their wettest December day on record with 5.01 inches of rain. West Little Rock, AR reported 10.20 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Another in a series of winter storms in the western U.S. produced 20 inches of snow at Blue Canyon, CA in 24 hours. Bishop, CA received 14 inches of snow in just 6 hours, and Redding, CA, which averages 3 inches of snow per year, was blanketed with 10 inches.

1989Many cities in the south central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Key West, FL equaled their record for December with a morning low of 44°. The high of just 45° at Miami, FL was an all-time record for that location. This smashed their previous record for the date by 20 degrees.

Vero Beach, FL set their all-time record December low with 23° while Key West, FL tied their December record low with 44°.

Record low temperatures in the southeast were the result of a heavy Christmas Eve to Christmas day snowstorm that dumped up to 20 inches of snow in Eastern North Carolina giving many locations their first white Christmas ever. Cape Hatteras, NC was in the second day of their greatest snowstorm on record with 13.3 inches. This storm was one of those coastal lows that actually had an "eye" show in IR satellite imagery like tropical hurricanes. Temperatures were in the teens on the coast but just 50 miles off shore were they in the middle 50's.

***See Slideshow***

1990A deep upper level trough continued to bring dangerous record lows from the Rockies to the West Coast. Many locations reported record low temperatures for the date including:

1993Light snow at Sioux Falls, SD pushed the melted precipitation for the year for the city to 36.03 inches. This set a new all-time record for yearly precipitation for the location.

1996Southerly flow out ahead of a cold front brought a few record high temperatures to parts of the Northeast. Central Park in New York City soared to 63°, tying the record high temperature for the date. Other record highs included: Boston, MA: 61°, Hartford, CT: 59°-Tied, Milton, MA: 58° and Worcester, MA: 57°-Tied.

2001Buffalo, NY had gone through the entire month of November without any snow, the very first time in history that had occurred. But the city would make up for it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as 25.2 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours, the 3rd highest 24 hour snowfall for the city. The new record would fall just two days later when 29.6 inches of snow fell between 7pm on the 26th and 7pm on the 27th. 82.3 inches of snow fell during a 5-day period, almost as much as the city normally receives in an entire winter season.

2004The residents of Victoria, TX awoke to their first white Christmas in 86 years when south Texas received a rare blanket of snow that reached 13 inches.

Its one thing to gripe and complain about these things and disagree with it, but its quite another to convince your friends and neighbors and relatives and coworkers...

THEREFORE..., its also absolutely necessary for people to know the information in the following documentary. If there were simply one video that you could see and/or show people you know... this would be the one...

The following is an excellent video documentary on the so-called Global Warming I would recommend it to all FReepers. Its a very well-made documentary.

Buy iton DVD here... [this would be the very highest quality version, on a DVD disk, of several gigabytes in size...] At Amazon, it seems to be high-priced now and have only a few copies right now. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WLUXZE

Sunspots have been more common in the past seven decades than at any time in the last 8,000 years, according to a new historic reconstruction of solar activity.

Many researchers have tried to link sunspot activity to climate change, but the new results cannot be used to explain global warming, according to the scientists who did the study.

Sunspots are areas of intense magnetic energy. They act like temporary caps on upwelling matter, and they are the sites of occasional ferocious eruptions of light and electrified gas. More sunspots generally means increased solar activity.

Sunspots have been studied directly for about four centuries, and these direct observations provide the most reliable historic record of solar activity. Previous studies have suggested cooler periods on Earth were related to long stretches with low sunspot counts. From the 1400s to the 1700s, for example, Europe and North America experienced a "Little Ice Age." For a period of about 50 years during that time, there were almost no sunspots.

But a firm connection between sunspot numbers and climate remains elusive, many scientists say.

Better record

The new study, led by Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, employed a novel approach to pinning down sunspot activity going back 11,400 years:

Cosmic rays constantly bombard Earth's atmosphere. Chemical interactions create a fairly constant source of stuff called carbon-14, which falls to Earth and is absorbed and retained by trees. But charged particles hurled at Earth by active sunspots deflect cosmic rays. So when the Sun gets wild, trees record less carbon-14.

While trees don't typically live more than a few hundred years or perhaps a couple thousand, dead and buried trees, if preserved, carry a longer record, "as long as tree rings can be identified," said Manfred Schuessler, another Max Planck Institute researcher who worked on the study.

The study's finding: Sunspot activity has been more intense and lasted longer during the past 60 to 70 years than at anytime in more than eight millennia.

Sunspot activity is known to ebb and flow in two cycles lasting 11 and 88 years (activity is currently headed toward a short-term minimum). Astronomers think that longer cycles -- or at least long-term variations -- also occur. Scientists in other fields have shown that during the past 11,000 years, Earth's climate has had many dramatic shifts.

"Whether solar activity is a dominant influence in these [climate] changes is a subject of intense debate," says Paula Reimer, a researcher at Queen's University Belfast who wrote an analysis of the new study for Nature. Why? Because "the exact relationship of solar irradiance to sunspot number is still uncertain."

In general, studies indicate changes in solar output affect climate during periods lasting decades or centuries, "but this interpretation is controversial because it is not based on any understanding of the relevant physical processes," study member Schuessler told SPACE.com. Translation: Scientists have a lot to learn about the Sun-Earth connection.

Better understanding

The study's methods appear solid: "The models reproduce the observed record of sunspots extremely well, from almost no sunspots during the seventeenth century to the current high levels," Reimer said.

The research could eventually help scientists understand why the climate has changed in the past and allow for better predictions of future change.

"The reconstructed sunspot number will nonetheless provide a much-needed record of solar activity," Reimer said. "This can then be compared with palaeoclimate data sets to test theories of possible solar-climate connections, as well as enabling physicists to model long-term solar variability."

Whatever the result, change is likely to continue.

Solanki's team calculates that, based on history, the chances of sunspot activity remaining at the currently high levels for another 50 years is 8 percent. Odds are just 1 percent the solar exuberance will last through the end of this century.

50
posted on 12/24/2009 6:40:25 PM PST
by Star Traveler
(At Christmas - remember to keep "Christ" in the One-World Government that we look forward to)

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